Apparatus for mixing and delivering air and gas



No. 748,840.; l. PATNNTEN JAN. 5, 1904.

-' W. H. BROWN A; J. E'. TNUCKSES.V

APPARATUS PON MIXING ANNNELIVERING'AIR ANN GAS. AYPLIUATION FILED PERSB, 1903.

Nov MODEL. V2 SHEETS-'SHEET '1.

. A lPATENfIfBD JAN. 5, 1904. W. H. BROWNA J. 1.TAIJGKSES.

`A-PPAR-ATUS PoRv MIXING' AND DBLIVERING AIR AND GAS.

. APPLICATION FILED PEB. 235,. 1903 N0 MODEL. Y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904.

' AfrnNT Frrcn.

WALTER H. BROVVN AND JOHN E. TRUCKSES, OF BSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND DELIVERING AIR AND GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N 0. 748,840, dated January 5, 1904.

Application led February 28, 19,03. Serial No. 145,499. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, WALTER H. BROWN and JOHN E. TRUcKsns,.bot-h of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Mixing and Delivering Air and'Gas, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for mixing air and a combustible gas in predetermined proportions and supplying thesame under pressure for use in heating, lighting, te.

The invention has for its object to provide a simple, durable, effective, and automatically-operating apparatus of this character; and it consists in the improvements which we will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 represents an enlarged elevation, partly in section, showing parts of the apparatus shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4 dof Fig.`

l looking toward the left..

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, os represents a tank or reservoir open at its upper end and adapted to contain a body of water or other vliquid to serve as a seal for the lower ends of two receivers b and c, each of said receivers being an inverted bell or tank closed at its upper end and open at its lower end and adapted to rise and fall in the liquid in the tank a. The

Yreceiver c is contained within the receiver b pressure, said pipe extending through the bottom of the tank a and upwardly into the receiver c, its upper end being provided with a downwardly-closing check-valve f'. The pipe f therefore delivers gas to the receiver c.

Means are provided for alternately raising the receivers b and c and for releasing said receivers 4and permitting them to descend by gravitation. When the receivers are raised,

a partial vacuum is formed between their up- 6o per ends and the surface of the liquid in the tank a, so that air rushes through the airinlet pipe e, raising the valve c and filling the space in the air-receiver b above the liquid seal. At the same time gas enters the upper portion of the gas-receiver o through the pipe f, the valve f opening like the valve e. When the receivers are released 'after having been raised and charged, respectively, with air and gas, the compression of the air 7o and gas in the upper portions caused by the descent of the receivers accomplishes two results-viz., first, the gas in the receiver c is forced from the latter into the air-receiver b through an outlet c in the upper portion of the'gas-receiver c, said outlet having a down wardly-closiug valve c2,- secondly, the mixture of air and gas is forced from the airreceiver through a discharge-pipe g, which is continuously open within the air-receiver and '8e' extends from a point above the liquid seal downwardly through the bottom of the tank o, and then outwardly and upwardly into a' gasometer h of ordinary construction. Vhen the receivers are rising, the valvcc2 in the 85 outlet c' of the gas-receiver is closed by the vacuum in the gas-receiver below it, so that the gas does not escape from the gas-receiver until the downward movement of the receivers causes a pressure on the gas in the 9o gas-receiver.

The preferred means for raising and releasing the air and gas receivers are as follows:

t representsa vertical cylinder which is affixed to the bottom of the tank a and extends upwardly within the gas-receiver@ to a point above the liquid seal.

j represents a piston which is movable vertically in the cylinder i and lits the latter internally closely, said piston being affixed to roo the rod d, which connects the receivers b and c, said rod being extended downwardly, as shown in Fig. l.

1c representsaconduit which communicates with the lower end of the cylinder il and with the casing m of a three-way cock, in which is a movable plug member n. The cock-casing lm has three branches 2, 3, and 4. The branch 3 is connected with the conduit k, the branch 2 with a supply-pipe o, communicating with,

a source of supply of water or other fluid under pressure, and the branch 4 is connected with a waste-pipe p. The plug n is tubular and is provided with a peripheral groove fn', Fig. 3, which when the plug is at one eXtreme of its movement coincides with the branches 2 and 3, so that water from the supply-pipe 0 can pass through the cock-casing to the conduit c and from the latter into the cylinder vl, the branch 4, leading to the waste-pipe p, being at this time shut off from the branches 2 and 3 by the lower end of the plug fn. The uid thus admitted to the cylinder i acts on the piston j to raise the latter and, through the rod d, the air and gas receivers h and. c.

fr represents a weighted lever pivoted at r to a fixed support and having a segmental slot r2 in one of its arms, said slot receiving a pin n2, connected with the stem of the plug n. The said lever has another arm, to which is pivotally connected the lower end of a vertical rod s, which is provided at its lower portion with a shoulder s and at its upper portion with a shoulder s2.

t represents a tubular member affixed to the top of the air-receiver h and having at its lower end an inwardly-projecting flange t, which is adapted to engage either the shoulder s or the shoulder s2, the upward movement of the receivers causing the flange t' to engage the shoulder s2 and lift the rod s, thereby swinging the lever r in the direction required to depress the plug n, while the downward movement of the receivers causes the ange t to engage the shoulder s and depress the rod s and cause a movement of the lever i" in the direction required to raise the plug fn.. When the plug is depressed, its peripheral recess 'n' is moved out of alinement with the branches 2 and 3 of the cock-casing, and a port n3 in its side is brought into alinement with the branch 3. The inlet branch 2 is now closed, and the branch 31s connected, through the port n3 and the interior of the plug, with the outlet branch-4 and the wastepipe p, so that the fluid which has been forced into the cylinder t' and has raised the piston j therein is released and permitted to drain off lthrough the conduit k and waste-pipe p, the air and gas receivers being thus permitted to descend.

The segmental slot 'r2 is concentric with the pivot r', on which the lever r swings, so that the lever is loosely engaged with the cockplug and can swing a distance equal to the length of the slot before moving the plug.

The loose connection afforded by the slot r2 therefore enables the lever to swing past its Verticalposition and begin to swing downwardly by gravitation before moving the plug, so that the plug is moved quickly in each direction by the momentum of the falling weight.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each upward movement of the air and gas receivers causes the upper portions of said receivers to be charged, respectively, with air and gas and that at the end of the upward movement the cock-plug frt is moved to release the water from the cylinder t' and permit the descent of the receivers, the gas in the gas-receiver being-thereupon caused to mingle with the air in the air-receiver and the mixture of air and gas forced through the discharge-pipe g into the gasometer h. At the end of the downward movement of the receivers the cock-plug n is raised to close the outlet4 to the waste-pipe and connect the supply-pipe 0 with the conduit lc, leading to the cylinder. The impelling fluid is thus admitted to the cylinder and caused to raise the air and gas receivers, this operation being continued indefinitely. It will be seen that the proportions of air and gas admitted are according to the capacity of the receivers b and c above the water seal. The volu me of gas required being usually less than that of the air, the gas-receiver is preferably made smaller, both in 'height and diameter, than the air-receiver, as shown in Fig. l, `this difference in size enabling the gas-receiver to be conveniently placed within the air-receiver. The volume of the mixture of air and gas delivered may be approximately determined by means of a meter or indicator u, affixed to a frame or support above the receivers b and c and having a member formed as a projecting lever u', arranged to be moved by a stud or projection u2 on the top of the air-receiver when the latter rises. Each movement t-hus imparted to the lever u' is caused to turn an actuating-train in a manner which will be well understood.

Means are provided whereby the rise of the floating or bell member h of the gasometer may be caused to shut olf the supply of impelling fluid from the pipe o to stop the delivery ot' the air and gas mixture to the gasometer when the latter is full and also whereby the descent of the bell h may be caused to admit the supply of fluid under pressure to the pipe o, thus starting' the operation of the air and gas mixing and delivering apparatus. To these ends the bell h is provided with an ear or projection h2, which is movable between projections v and fu on a vertical rod o2, said rod being connected by suitable means, such as a shoulder/U3 and an arm 114, with a shut-off valve or cock, the casing U5 of which is shown in Fig. 4, said casing forming a part of the supply pipe or conduit 0. When the bell h' reaches the limit of its upward movement, the projection h2 strikes IOO IIO

the shoulder fu, raising the rod U2 and closing the valve at v5. When the bell h descends in consequence of the consumption of the stored gas,the projection hzeventnally strikes the projection v', thus depressing the rod u2 and causing it to open the valve at v5. The end of the discharge-pipe g within the gasometer is provided with a downward-closing check-valve g', which is closed when the outward liow from the receivers ceases and prevents the pressure within the gasometer from forcing the mixture of gas and air backwardly through the pipe g, the said mixture being forced outwardlyto the burners through a pipe w.

` We claimy,

l. An air and gas mixing and delivering ap-- paratus comprising two connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower ends of said receivers, means for alternately raising and releasing said receivers, the said receivers having inlets through which air and gas enter when the receivers are rising,the gas-receiver having also an outlet through which the gas passes to the air-receiver, and a discharge-pipe to conduct the mixture of air and gas from the air-receiver when the receivers are descending.

2. An air and gas mixing and delivering apparatus comprising two connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower ends of said receivers, means for alternately raising and releasing said receivers, the said receivers having inlets through-which air and gas enter when the receivers are rising, the gas-receiver having alsoan outlet through which the gas passes to the air-receiver, a discharge-pipe to conduct the mixture of air and gas from the air-receiver when the receivers are descending, and means for preventing the escape of said mixture excepting through the discharge-pipe.

3. An air andgas mixing and delivering apn paratus comprising two connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower endsl of said receivers, means for alternately raising and releasing said receivers, the said receivers having inlets through which air and gas enterwhen the receivers are rising, the gas-receiver having also an outlet through which the gas passes to the air-receiver, a discharge-pipe to conduct the mixture of air and gas from the air-receiver when the receivers are descending, and downwardlyclosing check-valves in the air and gas inlets and in the gas-outlet, whereby the escape 'of said mixture excepting through the dischargepipe is prevented.

4. An air and gas mixing and delivering apparatus comprising vtwo connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower ends of said receivers, a fixed vertical cylinder extending through said seal, a piston movable in the cylinder and connected with `the receivers, means operated by the descent of the receivers to admit an impelling fluid under pressure to the cylinder below the piston to raise the receivers and by the rise of the receivers to shut off the im'peliing fluid and permit the drainage of the cylinder and the descent of the receivers by gravitation, said receivers having inlets through which air and gas enter when the receivers are rising, the

gas-receiver having also an outlet to the airreceiver, and a discharge-pipe to conduct the mixture of air and gas from the air-receiver when the receivers are descending.

5. An air and gas mixing and delivering apparatus comprising two connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower ends of said receivers, a iixed vertical cylinder extending through said seal, a piston movable in the cylinder and connected with the receivers, a conduit entering the lower portion of the cylinder, a three-way-cock casing communicating with said conduit and having an inlet connected with a source of supply of iinid under pressure and a drainage-outlet, a cockplug movable in said casing and having means for connecting the said conduit alternately with the inlet and with the drainage-outlet, an oscillatory weighted lever pivoted to a fixed support and having an arm containing a segmental slot receiving a stud in the stem of said plug, a vertical rod connected with another arm 0E said lever, said rod having two shoulders, and a member moving with the receivers and adapted to engage one of said shoulders when the receivers are rising, and the other shoulder when the receivers are descending.

6. An air'and gas mixing and delivering apparatus comprising two connected inverted receivers, a liquid seal closing the lower ends of said receivers, a iixed vertical cylinder extending throngh said seal, a piston movable IOO in the cylinder and connected with the receivers, means operated by the descent of the receivers to admit an impelling iinid under pressure to the cylinder below the piston to raise the receivers, and by the rise of the receivers to shut off the impelling fluid' and permit the drainage of the cylinder and the descent of the receivers by gravitation, said receivers having inlets through which air and gas enter when the receivers are rising, the gas-receiver having also an outlet to the airreceiver,a discharge-pipe toconduct the mixture of air and gas from the air-receiver when the receivers are descending, a gasometer arranged to receive the mixture of gas and air from the air-receiver, and means controlled by the floating bell or chamber ot' the gasometer` for alternately turning on and shutting off kthe impelling iiuid.

IIO

In testimony whereof We have affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER H. BROWN. JOHN E. TRUOKSES.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, E. BATCHELDER. 

